La Liga leaders Real Madrid could move one step closer to winning a record 31st Spanish title if they can win at Racing Santander tomorrow.
The failure of their bitter rivals Barcelona to take advantage when they have dropped points has meant Real have established a nine-point lead at the top of La Liga with just six games remaining.
“I think we can wrap up the league title when we play Barcelona [on May 7] with three games to go. I’d love to win the league by beating Barca,” Real’s rejuvenated Dutch winger Wesley Sneijder said on Thursday.
After struggling with niggling injuries since the start of the year, Sneijder has returned to his best form in recent games. His superb strike to give ten-man Real a 1-0 win over Murcia last Sunday could, in retrospect, be viewed as a pivotal point in the season, when Madrid mentally clinched the league in their own minds and the heads of their rivals.
However, despite Sneijder’s bubbling optimism at the prospect of Real soon being crowned champions, club captain Raul Gonzalez erred on the side of caution.
“Each day we are getting closer [to the title], but we still have to take each game as it comes. We’ve got a big lead, but the run in is also complicated and Racing will be out to win,” Raul said on Thursday.
One issue that should calm any chance of Real getting carried away as they travel to the north of Spain is that coach Bernd Schuster has a number of suspension and injury problems to deal with.
Real will be without the services of defender Miguel Torres and influential playmaker Jose Maria “Guti” Gutierrez who are both suspended.
Training sessions on Thursday suggested Schuster is about to spring a surprise and ask Raul to drop back into Guti’s role and, in the absence of the injured Ruud van Nistelrooy, start with the unsettled Javier Saviola.
The Argentine international has only started three previous league games for Real this season. In addition, Schuster may be unable to call on the services of Saviola’s compatriot Fernando Gago because of a left knee knock picked up against Murcia.
Barcelona entertain Espanyol in a local derby today, a matched described by sports daily AS on Thursday as “a depression derby.”
Both sides have struggled over the second half of the season.
Espanyol have slipped from being in Champions League contention to eighth place, with UEFA Cup qualification also now probably being beyond their reach. The club’s fans left the players in no doubt what they thought of their team’s decline over recent months when they unfurled a huge banner at training on Wednesday.
“Pride, honor, courage, fighting spirit ... what don’t you understand,” questioned the banner.
One factor in Espanyol’s favor is that Barca coach Frank Rijkaard may well have his mind on Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final and rest several players.
At the other end of the table, bottom club Levante could be relegated tomorrow if they lose at home to Getafe and Recreativo Huelva manage to get a point at Real Zaragoza today.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
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